March 11, 2026
Today, the NFL and Microsoft announced a multi-year strategic partnership extension to help usher in a new era of AI innovation throughout the league. Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI will help enhance the way coaches and players connect insights from the sideline to play on the field. It will also transform the workplace experience for football and business operations staff off the field.
The NFL is one of the world’s most popular sports leagues, with 335 events each season and hundreds of millions of fans across the globe. Incorporating the new Microsoft solutions will help drive innovation and
“We are entering a new era of innovation at the NFL through our collaboration with Microsoft to deploy AI across key areas of the business,” says Gary Brantley, CIO of the NFL. “Enhancing the league is a responsibility we take seriously, and Microsoft has been a trusted sideline technology partner for over a decade. With Microsoft’s AI technologies, including Copilot, there are tremendous opportunities to elevate the game day experience for our clubs and deliver an even more compelling product to our fans.”
From game day insights to strategic decision-making, utilizing tools like the Sideline Viewing System (SVS) powered by Copilot will enable coaches and players to access and analyze data in real-time to help make more informed decisions in a more efficient and customized way.
For example, in what formation was the defense when it forced a turnover? An offensive unit can use the SVS and Copilot to filter game-changing moments like that to help gain some insight on why a play turned out the way it did.
“This is a space that we’ve really leaned heavily into,” McVay says. “It’s coming and it’s going to be a valuable tool. You can’t run away from it. This is an opportunity for us to say – in a league that has such small margins of victory week in and week out because of the level of competition – what are some of the ways that we can create edges or win in the margins?”
This season, the SVS has been upgraded with 2,500-plus Surface Copilot+ PCs to equip 32 teams, roughly 1,800 players and more than 1,000 coaches and team football staff with real-time game data and insights.
Today, the NFL and Microsoft announced a multi-year strategic partnership extension to help ausher in a new era of AI innovation throughout the league. Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI will help enhance the way coaches and players connect insights from the sideline to play on the field. It will also transform the workplace experience for football and business operations staff off the field.
The NFL is one of the world’s most popular sports leagues, with 335 events each season and hundreds of millions of fans across the globe. Incorporating the new Microsoft solutions will help drive innovation and
“We are entering a new era of innovation at the NFL through our collaboration with Microsoft to deploy AI across key areas of the business,” says Gary Brantley, CIO of the NFL. “Enhancing the league is a responsibility we take seriously, and Microsoft has been a trusted sideline technology partner for over a decade. With Microsoft’s AI technologies, including Copilot, there are tremendous opportunities to elevate the game day experience for our clubs and deliver an even more compelling product to our fans.”
From game day insights to strategic decision-making, utilizing tools like the Sideline Viewing System (SVS) powered by Copilot will enable coaches and players to access and analyze data in real-time to help make more informed decisions in a more efficient and customized way.
For example, in what formation was the defense when it forced a turnover? An offensive unit can use the SVS and Copilot to filter game-changing moments like that to help gain some insight on why a play turned out the way it did.
“This is a space that we’ve really leaned heavily into,” McVay says. “It’s coming and it’s going to be a valuable tool. You can’t run away from it. This is an opportunity for us to say – in a league that has such small margins of victory week in and week out because of the level of competition – what are some of the ways that we can create edges or win in the margins?”
This season, the SVS has been upgraded with 2,500-plus Surface Copilot+ PCs to equip 32 teams, roughly 1,800 players and more than 1,000 coaches and team football staff with real-time game data and insights.
